At the Peak of the Mountain
by Caimthehero
Summary: Red had always loved a challenge. He trained tirelessly for the thrill of victory in battle. He even isolated himself on Mount Silver to improve himself. As he defeated every opponent a single thought began to swirl in his head. At what cost?


Red had been training at mount Silver for the past few years. The harshest region in the entire world was established as his territory. The only reason people intruded into the depths of the mountain was to either test their mettle against the vicious pokemon there or against the trainer at the peak.

This was the reason the trainer before him stood. Red lifted his hat from his eyes to get a better look at the new challenger. The boy wasn't older than sixteen with a backwards hat covering his black hair. For some strange reason Red felt a sense of nostalgia looking at him.

"It has been a long time Red," the boy announced. Red just squinted his eyes at the boy. Did the kid really expect the champion to remember him. He had fought thousands of battles and most faces seemed to meld together after his defeat of the elite four and Blue.

"Haha you probably don't remember me," the boy laughed before continuing. "My name is Gold. We battled on this mountain a few years ago. After you beat me I traveled all through the world challenging other league champions to try and catch up to you. It was always just my luck that after I defeated them, they would tell me to go challenge the strongest trainer they faced on mount Silver. Lance, Steven, Wallace, Cynthia, Alder, Iris, do any of those names ring a bell to you?"

Red gave the boy a quick shake. He normally had a challenger every other day but none had yet to surpass him. The last person he had to struggle to defeat was his old rival Blue in his first championship. He hadn't needed more than three pokemon since that battle.

"I suppose not. After all why would the world champion need to remember the peons he defeated. You don't have to worry though because after today your reign ends," venom was dripping from Gold's voice as he glared at Red. Red wouldn't have said it that way himself, but a defeat would be much more memorable.

Red just kept gazing ahead waiting for the boy to pull out his first pokemon.

Red couldn't help but smirk at the thought of a strong opponent. It was simply his nature to relish the challenge. For some reason though he felt hollow. Maybe it was something Gold said but why. Why would anything the boy said have any meaning to the world champ.

The first pokemon he threw was a Typhlosion. That sparked the champ's memories. It was the first year he had come to the mountain after dominating the leagues. Lance had, after failing in his battle with Red, told him the newest Johto champ was on his way to battle him. That wouldn't have been news if the dragon master hadn't told him the Johto champ had duplicated his feats from Kanto. He had won his league in his first year of pokemon training and almost single-handedly wiped Team Rocket out of the region.

After hearing that Red had been itching to face his new challenger. It was unfortunate that he didn't live up to the hype. The only pokemon that was tough was the Typhlosion standing before him.

Red sighed in his mind as he released his Charizard. After the fire dragon saw his opponent he took flight. Once in the air he launched a firespin trapping his fellow fire type. In a regular situation this would be bad but on the snowy mountain it was even worse. Before Gold had figured out what had happened Typhlosion was struggling to keep its head above the newly melted water. That had earned it a landing kick from Charizard, knocking the pokemon out. It was now five against six without Red speaking a word. Red rarely had to give commands anymore, that was how well his pokemon were trained.

"Hmph, that's why you're the best, but I've gotten better too! Let's go Feraligator," Gold spurred on.

For the first time Red truly couldn't understand it anymore. What did it mean to be the best? Was there anything left? He had conquered every region and beaten every elite four and yet something was missing. He didn't have the sense of fulfillment he thought he would. Were all those victories meaningless?

Charizard stayed in the air like it was supposed to dodging water guns and hydro pumps from the ground bound gator. The dragon waited for the gator to leave enough of an opening before getting behind him. The two had practiced the maneuver often. Water pokemon couldn't usually hit anyone while in a hold. Charizard flew up a hundred or so feet before dropping the gator. The water pokemon fell like a meteor leaving a crater in its wake. It was unconscious.

"Return buddy. That was some nice moves but its time for a hometown favorite. Take Wing Gliscor," he shouted. It was an aerial match this time. Charizard held an advantage keeping the battle a long distance affair. The flamethrowers missed their mark but made it impossible for the other pokemon to use a ice or thunder fang. Red had other things on his mind. Home.

He should have wanted to return home but didn't. He hadn't returned since he left on his journey. Red could only imagine how worried his mom was. Her son hadn't contacted her in the last five years. The last time he had seen professor Oak he had just won the championship. That went double for his friend and rival Blue. He had thought about how they were all doing. How everyone had certainly changed. How the town had probably expanded. It made him almost want to go home.

He couldn't though.

After all these years Red couldn't bring himself to go home, and it didn't make sense. He needed to know why. It wasn't because he was afraid everyone wouldn't be like his memories, he could accept that people changed with time. It wasn't because he felt he needed to train more or gain more success, he had enough of both for a lifetime.

It took a moment to confess to himself the reason. It was because he couldn't let his inner fire die. He was afraid of becoming stagnant. Reaching a point where he didn't want to continue forward.

There was no other way to live for him. He had to keep searching for challenges,exploring the world and getting stronger. Life seemed to lose meaning when he wasn't in harms way. That is why he had gone and tamed cerulean cave and shortly after mount silver. The problem now was the only thing left for him to do now was to wait for challengers.

The duel between the two in the air was over with a strike. The gliscor had managed to chomp down on charizard's shoulder to be greeted with a Fire Blast to the face. No pokemon outside of the legendaries themselves could hold after that. The challenger fell to earth and was recalled by Gold.

"Everyone might know the undefeated trainer Red but when I'm through with you your name will be in tatters! Your time Umbreon."

Red chuckled at the statement. He was well known but no one actually knew him. A bitter irony but it came with the territory. He would train by himself from dawn til dusk, forsaking human companionship. The only essential relationship in pokemon training was the trainer pokemon one. Any others were superfluous. Or so he had believed.

Charizard had flown into the air again after the dark fox used double team. Standard procedure would be the dragon would burn them all to a crisp, and the Umbreon would be too far away to counter. They started throwing swifts at the airborne lizard to prolong the battle. Charizard was dodging them but without his usual speed.

It was only then Red noticed its right wing. The Gliscor had left its mark. His battle strength would only keep on fading as every flap would only bring more fatigue and pain.

Charizard winced as more stars grazed by him. The dragon knew it was going to end soon. He launched a fire spin trapping or destroying all the images. Red felt sick knowing what the dragon was about to do. What he had trained it to do.

Red had tried to call out to order it to stop, but his voice was nowhere to be found. He prayed that his pokemon would look back and see the disapproval in his eyes. Charizard didn't need to though. He had been in this situation before and Red had taught him to do what needed to be done.

The dragon swooped down full speed, hitting his own flames and blind fire stars. It was taking enormous damage but managed its goal as it rose into the sky with Umbreon. As it struggled to flap its wings hard enough to reach the required altitude the wing buckled. Charizard looked like a fallen angel as it crashed into the ground body slamming Umbreon in the process.

Red was shell shocked. The only thing he could think was why. Why had Charizard willingly sacrificed itself? He had already defeated three pokemon, he didn't need to battle anymore.

"Ha took out a pokemon of the very best!"

Was that why? Because he was the best? This was the price to pay to retain the title. For the first time since Red had started his journey all those years ago he felt sick.

Sick of his title. Sick of his constant training. Sick of cutting himself off from his friends and family. Sick of the sacrifices he had taught his pokemon to make. Sick of his journey. But most of all he was sick of losing sight of the reason he became a trainer in the first place.

It hadn't started for him to be the best. He had developed into that when he had to defeat Team Rocket on his own. No, before his goal was to have fun. The original motive he had wanted to become a trainer was to have fun with his pokemon.

He had somehow forgotten that along the way. Whether it was Team Rocket, The Elite Four, or the other champions that didn't matter anymore. He had realized his cause and now the boy who wanted to become who he was now let loose a Meganium. There was only one thing Red could do now.

The champion picked up his bag and approached the challenger, walking past the grass pokemon.

"What are you doing?! Aren't you going to battle. Are you too scared now that I beat your Charizard? Get over there and let's finish this!" Gold demanded. Red didn't rise to the taunts. He only shook his head low and smirked.

When he reached the Johto boy Red rested his hand on the boy's shoulder. It was an affectionate gesture. Gold was stunned at Red's response but before he could answer Red preempted him.

The boy spoke soft, as if they would shatter against the wind. A voice that hadn't been heard in many years. "You win. But let me warn you. This is the highest mountain in the world. It's lonely at the top."

Red walked away from his first loss with an excitement he hadn't felt in years.

He was going home.

Author Note: Just some thoughts on Red showing what type of person he would be to make it to the top and what type of feelings he would have after getting there. I was inspired to write this after seeing Red listed as a character who lives In Harms Way on TvTropes. Also yes I know Charizard is not a Dragon type but if it looks like a dragon, flies like a dragon, and breathes fire like a dragon then it's a dragon!


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